Madeleine McCann cops set up no-fly zone at remote reservoir before announcement
A remote reservoir is on lockdown this morning as police prepare to comb the area in the first major search for Madeleine McCann in nine years.
Roads leading into the Arade Dam in the Algarve, a 40-minute drive from Praia da Luz where Maddie vanished 16 years ago, were sealed off yesterday in part of a "preparation" day.
An overnight no-fly zone covering the whole of the man-made dam was also put in place, leaving the airspace above the water and land near the water’s edge where today’s search will focus open to police drones only.
The ring of steel meant journalists and curious onlookers were kept more than a mile back from two white tents put up yesterday.
Portuguese police prepare the area for the search at Barragem reservoir Silves (SOLARPIX.COM)The tents were seen by a secluded hilltop area on a peninsula jutting into the reservoir and Portuguese police plan to search the area from 9 am local time.
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Sources close to the investigation said they had evidence the clearing in the trees was the spot sole suspect Christian Brueckner used to spend time at.
A local who asked not to be named, but knows the area well, said: "It’s pretty well-hidden by the trees and you don’t realise it’s there until you’re almost upon it.
"People wild camp there overnight from time to time which is why you’ll find the remains of fires inside small walls of stone.
Christian Brueckner is believed to have stayed in a clearing in the area (LUIS FORRA/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)"It’s got old sun loungers in it and makeshift benches that visitors use to rest on.
"It’s very out-of-the-way and very peaceful but at the same time it’s got a slightly eerie feel about it."
A well-placed police source said: "Portuguese police are going to carry out a thorough and very careful search of the area today.
"Policia Judiciaria officers are going to be divided into four teams who will focus on a land search. It will be very meticulous and exhaustive.
Much of today's work will be "done by hand" (SOLARPIX.COM)"Forget the idea of "big trucks and large machinery. A lot of the work that’s going to be done here today will be done by hand with backup technology.
The insider said there was no plan to bring in sniffer dogs today and did not comment on local reports that boats with sonar equipment would search certain stretches of the water.
High-tech equipment used to detect human remains buried under the earth, as well as underwater if required, is expected to be used.
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No heavy machinery was taken to the area yesterday and council officials were spotted carrying a "lorryload" of wheelbarrows to the zone by the hidden leisure area clearing — suggesting police will rake and dig it by hand using the likes of pickaxes rather than excavate earth with diggers, likely in an attempt to preserve any evidence they find.
Kate and Gerry McCann (Getty Images)Local Portuguese reports, partly confirmed by police sources, claimed the searches were requested and authorised after German police obtained videos and photos of Brueckner from the planned dig site.
They are thought to have been found buried in the convicted sex offender's "secret lair" in a dilapidated factory site in the German village of Neuwegersleben, 65 miles southeast of Hanover.
Police raided the site in February 2016 in search of the body of missing five-year-old Inga Gehricke, who vanished while on a family outing in Saxony-Anhalt in May 2015 and has been dubbed the ‘German Maddie.’
Reports at the time said German detectives had discovered more than 8,000 images and videos on USB sticks and hard drives filled with child abuse images.
Madeleine McCann in an Everton Football shirt (PA)They were said to have been buried under the body of Brueckner’s dead dog.
Portugal’s Policia Judiciaria force, whose officers are doing most of the digging work today, has confirmed the searches were requested by their German counterparts the BKA.
Portuguese officials have not yet said when it was received but it is believed to have been about two months ago.
Although this week’s operation has been initiated by German police, Portuguese detectives are showing with the manpower and logistical support they are providing that they are fully on board.
Carlos Farinha, the PJ’s deputy director, travelled from Lisbon yesterday to the reservoir to view the preparation work ahead of the start of the searches and meet German counterparts.
Police cordon of roads at Barragem reservoir Silves before the search (SOLARPIX.COM)He is believed to have attended a briefing meeting with German police, who arrived at the scene around 6:30 pm local time in four vehicles including three VW people carriers and left two hours later.
Today, Algarve PJ chief Fernando Jordao is due to spend time at the search area in another show of the importance attached to this week’s operation by the Portuguese force’s upper hierarchy.
Operational coordination will be in the hands of a chief inspector who has not yet been named.
Scotland Yard representatives will be in the area for what has been described as a "watching brief."
Respected Portuguese broadcaster SIC has said the searches — due to last for at least two days and longer if anything of relevance is found — will be 80 per cent land-based and 20 per cent water-based.
In a lunchtime broadcast yesterday it said: "Investigators know suspect Cristian Brueckner used to come to this dam regularly.
Christian Brueckner, the main suspect and German convicted paedophile (REX/Shutterstock)
Madeleine McCann went missing 16 years ago (PA)"He would call it his little paradise and would often spend the night here. He was seen here often.
"The German authorities considered this reservoir to be an area of interest and ended up sending an International letter of request or letter rogatory."
In a statement issued yesterday evening, the first so far by authorities in Portugal, Germany or the UK after news of the new operation broke, the PJ said: "In view of the news made public, the Judiciary Police confirms that, regarding the investigation into the disappearance of an English child, which occurred in the Algarve in 2007, steps are still being taken to fully clarify the situation.
"Within the scope of international cooperation, in the next few days in the Algarve region, new searches will be carried out, coordinated by the Judiciary Police, at the request of the German Authorities (BKA) and with the presence of the British Authorities.
“Information will be provided in due course on the outcome of the proceedings."
The force made its statement shortly before German police arrived at the reservoir for a briefing meeting.
Ocean Club in Praia Da Luz in the Algarve, Portugal, where Madeleine McCann went missing (PA)The meeting took place in one of two blue tents put up yesterday lunchtime just under a mile from the land set to be examined today, one for the police and one for civil protection workers.
It was the first time all day any German officials had been seen at the reservoir, which was searched by divers hired by a Portuguese lawyer in February and March 2008.
Marcos Aragao Correia organised the privately-funded operation after claiming he had been tipped off by underworld contacts that Madeleine had been murdered and her body thrown into the reservoir within 48 hours of her disappearance.
Two bags containing small bones were found during the second search after divers had earlier recovered several lengths of cord, some plastic tape and a single white cotton sock.
An announcement will be made on Tuesday morning (SOLARPIX.COM)Portuguese police were alerted following the discovery but subsequently ruled out the possibility the bones were human because of their size.
The dam, near the town of Silves where a lorry driver says he saw a woman handing a child like Madeleine McCann over to a man two days after she went missing from her Praia da Luz holiday apartment on May 3 2007, is not thought to have been searched since March 2008 as part of the ongoing investigation into her disappearance.
The search is the first major operation of its kind since June 2014 when British police were given permission to do digs in Praia da Luz that involved sniffer dogs trained in detecting bodies and ground-penetrating radar.
The Scotland Yard digs nearly nine years ago in Praia da Luz were linked to the leading UK police theory at the time Madeleine died during a break-in and burglars dumped her body nearby.
The searches failed to find any trace of the missing youngster.
German prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters has consistently said he is convinced Madeleine is dead and caged paedophile Brueckner, 45, has been named as the sole suspect.
Brueckner is currently serving time for the September 2005 rape of an American in the resort where Madeleine vanished and has yet to face any formal accusation over the youngster’s disappearance.
Last April he was made an official suspect in Portugal over Madeleine’s disappearance, although his defence lawyer Friedrich Fulscher labelled it a "procedural trick" linked to the statute of limitations legislation at the time.
Last autumn Bruecker was charged in Germany with several sex crimes on the Algarve against women and children including the rape of an Irish holiday rep in 2004 and the sexual abuse of a 10-year-old girl on a beach near Praia da Luz in 2007.
Brueckner’s lawyer revealed in April those charges had been dropped against him in a bombshell development after successfully arguing prosecutors had no jurisdiction over him where the Madeleine case was being brought.
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